The present invention relates to an electro-optic communication system and more specifically to an electro-optic interface system configured to optically communicate signals between two or more electronic systems.
Conventionally, electronic systems such as PCs, Internet Servers and Computer Peripherals utilize a variety of metal cables and interface circuits for interconnection purposes in order to transmit bidirectional information. These interfaces host a variety of communication protocols between the different devices. In many cases, these interfaces limit the performance of the transmission system. Common problems limiting metal cable performance include significant degradation due to problems caused by Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), data transmission speed limitations due to the constrained transmission capability of the cable utilized by standard interfaces (twisted pair, coax cable and other types of interfaces), limited transmission distances for sending data and information due to the limitations of the electronics"" transmission system over metal lines.
Fiber optic interface systems have been proposed as a possible solution to many of the aforementioned problems. As a result, fiber optic interface systems have been developed in specific applications for connecting electronic systems such as computers and peripherals. Unfortunately, the existing fiber optic interface systems usually consist of highly complex interface cards, which connect to the back plane of the PC or server host with an adapter card. The adapter card typically includes relatively slow speed electronics needed to drive the fiber optic interface and to establish the necessary protocol to interface with the Host Computer or the Computer Peripheral. As a result, conventionally implemented fiber optic interface systems suffer from limited data rates and bandwidth.
What is needed is an electro-optic interface system which will provide a high speed, high frequency communication link between two or more electronic systems.
The present invention provides an electro-optic system and method of operation for communicating high frequency analog and high speed digital signals between two or more electronic systems.
In one embodiment of the invention, an electro-optic transceiver configured to communicate signals between an electronic system and an optical system is presented. The electro-optic transceiver includes a test system switch, a laser, and a photodetector. The test system switch includes a signal port configured to communicate electronic signals between the test system switch and the electronic system, a control input configured to receive a switch control signal, a first signal output, and a first signal input. The laser includes an input coupled to the first signal output of the test system switch and an optical output coupled to the optical system. The photodetector includes an optical input coupled to the optical system and an output coupled to the first signal input of the test system switch, the photodetector being configured to receive an optical signal from the optical system and in response produce a received signal. The test system switch, responsive to the switch control signal, couples the electronic signal to the laser input to produce a first modulated output signal, thereby communicating the electronic signal from the electronic system to the optical system, or couples the received signal to the electronic system, thereby communicating the optical signal from the optical system to the electronic system.
In a second embodiment of the invention, an electro-optic interface system configured to communicate, via an optical channel, an electronic signal between a first and a second electronic system is presented. The electro-optic interface system includes a first electro-optic transceiver, an optical channel and a second electro-optic transceiver.
The first electro-optic transceiver includes a signal port coupled to the first electronic system and an output coupled to the optical channel and includes a first transceiver emulator circuit, and a first transceiver laser. The first transceiver emulator circuit is configured to receive an electronic signal comprising parallel data from the first electronic system and, in response, produces serialized data. The first transceiver laser produces a first modulated output signal corresponding to the electronic signal communicated from the first electronic system.
The second electro-optic transceiver includes a first port coupled to the optical channel and a second port coupled to the second electronic system. The second transceiver includes a second transceiver photodetector, and a second transceiver emulator circuit. The second transceiver photodetector is configured to receive the first modulated output signal emitted by the first transceiver laser and, in response, produces a first received signal. The second transceiver emulator circuit is configured to receive the received signal comprising serialized data and to produce in response parallel data.
The nature and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.